Morgan railway line

The Morgan railway line or North-West Bend railway was a railway line in South Australia which connected Adelaide to the Murray River at Morgan. It was built initially to service the copper mining at Kapunda in 1860, then extended through Eudunda to Morgan in 1878^[1] to provide a more efficient freight and passenger connection between the Murray paddle steamers and both the city of Adelaide and Port Adelaide for ocean transport.

Route

Legend

Morgan railway line  Adelaide Gawler Gawler Central railway line formerly to Truro and Penrice Roseworthy formerly to Burra and Peterborough Freeling Kapunda Hampden Eudunda Sutherlands Bower Mount Mary Morgan

The Kapunda railway was the first extension of the line from Adelaide to Gawler. It passed through Roseworthy from where other lines later branched and Freeling to Kapunda. The extension continued through Eudunda then across the plains adjacent to what is now the Thiele Highway to Morgan.

Possible extension

There were proposals to extend the line to connect in to New South Wales to Wentworth^[2] and even to Hay providing a more direct rail route to Sydney.^[3]

References

1. ↑ "II—PUBLIC WORKS. OPENING OF THE NORTH-WEST BEND RAILWAY.". The South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1858 - 1889) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 2 November 1878. p. 9. Retrieved 3 September 2014. 
2. ↑ "PUBLIC WORKS.". South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 14 June 1879. p. 3 Supplement: Supplement to the South Australian Register. Retrieved 3 September 2014. 
3. ↑ "HAY TO MORGAN.". The Maitland Weekly Mercury (NSW : 1894 - 1931) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 10 June 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 3 September 2014.